Leeds 2-1 West Ham: The star who has repaid Daniel Farke's faith, the main issue Nuno Espirito Santo MUST solve and the Hammers man who can make a key difference

Leeds held onto a crucial 2-1 win against West Ham at Elland Road to move up to 13th in  the table and end a run of three games without a win.

Two goals from Brenden Aaronson and Joe Rodon in the first 15 minutes gave Leeds a two-goal lead and although Mateus Fernandes pulled one back in the dying stages, it was too little too late as the Hammers fell to their seventh defeat of the season.

Nuno Espirito Santo is still winless as West Ham boss and his side are 19th. Daily Mail Sport's AADAM PATEL was at Elland Road to run the rule over Leeds and the Hammers.

Fortress Elland Road 

The next time that these two sides are scheduled to meet is the last game of the season. It's still early doors but judging by the sheer feebleness of this West Ham display, it would not be a surprise to see them relegated by the time that fixture comes around.

Nuno Espirito Santo is winless in four and this is West Ham's worst ever start to a Premier League season with just four points in nine matches. The Hammers have been leading for less than two per cent of their games this season with their solitary win coming against Nuno when he was the manager of Nottingham Forest in August. 

For Leeds, this was exactly the kind of display they needed with Daniel Farke's side hungry in front of a raucous Elland Road. They took their chances early on after their wastefulness in front of goal in recent weeks and showed again why this place will be one of the toughest grounds to visit in the top-flight. Spurs remain the only team to win at Leeds this season.

Worse than shocking

After their defeat by Brentford at the London Stadium on Monday, Jamie Carragher described West Ham as 'shocking' and one of the 'slowest' teams he'd seen in Premier League history. Shocking would have been an understatement to describe their start here.

After a questionable team selection from Nuno, with the right-footed Aaron Wan-Bissaka at left back, left-footed Ollie Scarles at right back and no recognizable center forward, the Hammers were embarrassing from the outset. They failed to do the basics in terms of defending balls coming into the box and found themselves two goals down after just 15 minutes.

W est Ham have conceded nine goals from corners in the Premier League this season, more than any other side. Chants from the away end of 'Sack the Board' were a constant all evening and West Ham's plight was summed up when academy graduate Scarles was forced off with what looked like a dislocated shoulder in the 25th minute. The 19-year-old was hooked off at half-time on Monday and now faces an extended period on the sidelines after a miserable week.

Defensively solid again

There was an air of nervousness around Elland Road pre-match with Leeds winless in three and two away games coming up after this. Farke insisted that he was calm and relaxed about their situation and the Leeds boss was proactive with his team selection, making four changes from the side that lost at Burnley.

One of their main issues this season has been going behind in six of their first eight games and giving themselves a mountain to climb but Leeds raced out of the blocks against a hapless West Ham outfit. Lucas Perri was back in goal for Karl Darlow but in fairness, Leeds' solid defense was more due to the lack of attacking threat posed by the visitors.

There were impressive performances too from Jaka Bijol, who made his Premier League debut after signing from Udinese for £15million in the summer, while Ao Tanaka came in for Anton Stach and put in a reliably solid shift. One slight dampener was seeing Noah Okafor forced off at half-time but all in all, this was a hugely encouraging display.

Whites' attacking gem

With Dan James on the bench and Willy Gnonto still injured, Brenden Aaronson was again given the nod to start down the right. Going into this game, Aaronson had only one goal and three assists to show across 44 games and 2,847 minutes of Premier League football, averaging a goal involvement every 712 minutes.

But it took the American just three minutes to get on the scoresheet here - in a week where he celebrated his 25th birthday - with a simple tap in after Alphonse Areola parried Okafor's header. The defense from West Ham was woeful but there is no doubt that the goal gave Aaronson's confidence a world of good, especially after his miss at Turf Moor last Saturday.

He nearly added a second after the break with a dazzling run, picking the ball up in his own half and going past Tomas Soucek and Paqueta before his effort bounced off the bar. Farke has often cited Aaronson's defensive contributions by praising his work rate but here was a timely reminder that if he can deliver in the final third, Aaronson will be an asset for Leeds this season.

Wilson still struggles for minute 

From the moment Nuno named a starting 11 without a recognised striker, eyebrows were raised. He got his team wrong and West Ham were certainly an improved side once Callum Wilson came on for his first minutes under the new manager and they shifted into a 4-2-3-1.

Still, the lack of quality is alarming with the Hammers barely creating any chances of note until the latter stages of the second half. El Hadji Malick Diouf's backheel which went straight out for a throw in summed up just how out of sync they were. Right now, this is a team relying on the individual quality of the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta. Even when Nuno made further changes in the second half, throwing on Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes, West Ham never looked like scoring until a late consolation that came after a wonderful delivery from Bowen and a fine header from Fernandes. In the end, it counted for nothing. 

Right now, this is a team relying on the individual quality of the likes of Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta. Even when Nuno made further changes in the second half, throwing on Freddie Potts and Mateus Fernandes, West Ham never looked like scoring until a late consolation that came after a wonderful delivery from Bowen and a fine header from Fernandes. In the end, it counted for nothing.